Professor Dodgen
Fall 2012
History 380: Twentieth Century World
Course Description
The twentieth century witnessed both a remarkable expansion of human freedom
and daunting repression, great material progress and monumental violence. But could this
not be said of any century? What makes the twentieth century unique? How does it differ
from the nineteenth or the twenty-first? How do the events of the century reflect the
legacy of the past? What impact will they have on the future? These are among the
questions we will think about and discuss. We will look at such varied topics as art,
technology, race, philosophy, science, women, the environment, warfare, economics,
politics, and leisure in order to understand the special character of our century.
Readings:
The text is Twentieth Century World History by Duiker.
Other required readings are Fergal Keane, Season of Blood, and Alexander
Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
Grading:
I will base your evaluation on two take-home essays and two in-class exams. I
will hand out the take-home essay questions several days before the essay is due. The
first take-home essay covers Season of Blood while the second essay covers One Day in
the Life. On each essay exam, students have the choice of constructing their essay around
one of three possible sets of issues raised by the book. Essays must be 4-5 pages, typed,
double-spaced and are due the day of the in-class exam. Students should support their
arguments with evidence and concise quotes from the book. Page numbers in parentheses
must accompany all supporting evidence taken from the book, including pages from
which you have taken quotes, ideas, or examples. The point of the essay is to assess your
understanding of the assigned reading, not your overall command of the subject. For this
reason, students cannot use other outside work to support their essays.
The in-class exams will rely on the list of identification items handed out in class.
Each will cover material from one-half of the semester. Students should use the material
from their class notes and any films shown in class in their in-class essays. Blue books
are required for all in-class exams and must be unmarked and without missing pages.
This syllabus can be altered at any time (changes will always be announced in
class) and students are responsible for keeping track of changes and for all material
presented in class.
Plagiarism, including copying from others on an exam and taking material from
the Internet without attribution, is a crime of intellectual theft and will be punished with
an “F” grade in the class. If you have doubts about the material you are using and how to
use it, contact me or another history professor to discuss the material and its proper use so
that you don’t commit this error.
My office is Stevenson 2066, extension 42462. My e-mail address is
dodgen@sonoma.edu . Office hours are M-W, 10:00-11:30.
Syllabus
Week of
Topics and Assignments
8/23
--Introduction: Why study a century?
8/27-29
* Reading assignment: Twentieth Century World History (TCWH)
chapters 1 and 2, Season of Blood, Prologue and chapter 1.
--Africa and colonial power.
--The imperial U.S.
9/3-5
Monday: No class, Labor Day
Wednesday: * Reading assignment: TCWH chapter 3, chapter 5,
“Japan between the wars,” and Season of Blood, chapter 2.
--The rise of militarism in Japan.
9/10-12
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapter 5, “Revolution in China,”
and Season of Blood, chapter 3.
--China’s civil war.
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapter 4.
--World War I
Film: “The Arming of the Earth.”
9/17-19
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapter 5, remainder, chapter 6,
“The retreat from democracy,” Season of Blood, chapter 4.
--Fascism and totalitarianism.
--Latin America before WWII.
9/24-26
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapter 4, “The Great Depression,”
chapter 5, “The nationalist revolt in the Middle East; ” Season of
Blood, chapter 5.
--Oil creates the Middle East.
--The Global Depression.
10/1-3
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapter 6, “The Holocaust,”
Season of Blood, chapter 6
--The New Anti-Semitism.
Film: “Night and Fog.”
Wednesday: complete Season of Blood, discussion.
10/8-10
Monday: Review for Midterm exam.
Thursday, MIDTERM EXAM
10/15-17
* Reading assignment: TCWH chapter 7, 8 and 10.
--Containment in Europe and Asia.
--The Soviet Union after Stalin.
10/22-24
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapters 11 and 16; begin One Day
in the Life.
--Occupied Japan.
--Latin America Since WWII.
10/29-31
*Reading assignment: TCWH chapter 9; continue One Day in the
Life.
--Utopian Socialism in China.
Film: “The Mao Years.”
11/5-7
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapter 15; continue One Day in
the Life.
--The Post-War Middle East.
11/12-14
* Reading assignment: TCWH, chapter 14; complete One Day in
the Life, discussion.
--Africa since WWII.
11/19
* Reading assignment: TCWH chapters 12 and 13.
India and Southeast Asia.
11/21
Thanksgiving Holiday
11/26-28
* Reading assignment: TCWH chapter 16.
--The Japanese Model and the New Capitalisms.
Film: “The Japanese Version.”
12/3-6
*Reading assignment: TCWH chapter 17.
China’s Environmental Nightmare
Review for final exam.
Final Exam: Wednesday, December 12, 2:00-3:50
Terms, names and events for in-class exams:
Mid-term Exam:
1. Herero
2. Economic Nationalism
3. King Menelik
4. Alfred Dreyfus
5. Congo Free State
6. Patrones
7. Empress Dowager Ci Xi
8. Benito Mussolini
11. Balfour Declaration
12. U-boat
13. Bolsheviks
14. Port Arthur
15. Kulaks
16. Boxer Rebellion
17. E. D. Morel
18. Sun Yat-sen
9. Emilio Aguinaldo
10. Anglo-Persian Oil Co.
19. Reza Shah
20. Ito Hirobumi
Final Exam:
1. Jacobo Arbenz
2. The Four Tigers
3. “Containment”
4. Sunni and Shia
5. Kim Il Sung
6. Nikita Khrushchev
7. Nuremberg Trials
8. S.C.A.P.
9. Great Leap Forward
10. Ho Chi Minh
11. Gang of Four
12. OPEC
13. “The Algerian War”
14. Dien Bien Phu
15. Bay of Pigs
16. Deng Xiaoping
17. Apartheid
18. Khmer Rouge
19. Sputnik
20. Kamikaze